CAMBODIAN LIFT OFF

Chalked it up to a chance encounter in a Phnom Penh bar. When Julien Poulson, an Australian, met the local songstress, Srey Thy, in a karaoke bar, their meeting would lead to The Cambodian Space Project (CSP); a band that covers, preserves and create their own brand of Khmer rock. Two years later, after a world tour and finding their footing among the debris of Cambodia’s war-torn past, the CSP’s popularity continues skywards. How apt that the band will touch down at Singapore’s own Up To The Sky Festival.

Okay, so first off, how did the name The Cambodian Space Project came about?

It started with a conversation about how ethereal Khmer vocals can be and how spaced-out the experience of creating music in Cambodian sometimes is. We like the idea that somewhere, deep in the Cambodian jungles, there’s a top secret Space Project happening.

Until, we discovered there really was a space project in Cambodia! It was a university project, which launched Cambodia’s first spacecraft. Their project team dropped by to celebrate by shooting a weather balloon that was fitted with a camera into space. Then, it crashed back down to earth in a rice field surrounded by stunned Cambodian famers. 

It was also a funny choice of name, an in-joke, because we knew Srey Thy couldn’t speak English (at the time) and it took her a long time to pronounce the band’s name, let alone translate it into Khmer for local fans. 
 
We heard that Srey Thy was offered an opportunity to be a human rights advocate and Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women’s UNiTE.

The people running the programme contacted her and CSP because of our activities on social awareness through our work as musicians and artists but nothing has come out of this other than the meeting with them.

But that hasn’t stopped Srey Thy from talking to the youths from disadvantaged backgrounds. She’ll speak about what we do as well as sharing her own life-experience. We often visit schools, orphanages and play benefits for charitable causes.
 
What’s the music scene in Cambodia like now? 
 
Two years ago there were only two kinds of music: covers played by expat bands and music by Khmer bands; these are usually played at weddings. Cool music but they are completely removed from outside influence. Now there’s a strong revival of traditional ways, largely for the work of Cambodian Living Arts supporting aging Khmer master musicians. There’s a cool hip-hop scene that the Khmer language works easily with and there’s another kind of scene, where producers and bands mix it all up.

What kind of bands?

I call them “Baranatang” bands and there are no rules, no industry, just D.I.Y. bands like Cyclosonic; Mekong Pirates; Dub Addiction; Professor Kinski and MC Curly; Los Poporks; Bum 'N Draze, just to name a few.
 
When you were looking for musicians to revive Cambodia’s music scene, were there other artistes you were trying to get aside from Srey Thy?

Yes, many. We’re still roping them in. Our Khmer drummer, Bong Sak a.k.a. the Al Pacino of Cambodian Rock, is an important part of what we’ve been doing. When we put out new music releases some of the other singers will feature like Master Kong Nay, a world-renown Chapei player who is blind. He duets with Srey Thy on some recordings. We also want to do more with MC’s and hip-hop cats. 
 
It was a dark period in Cambodia’s history with the culling of the creatives and intellectuals; was it tough trying to resurrect the halycon days of Cambodian pop?
 
Almost two million people lost their lives in a very few years and amongst these were most of the Cambodian musicians and artists who created the Golden Era music. Some forms of music, such as Smot is almost extinct. There are a few people who know of this unique funeral music and when it’s played, it’s played on cassette or CD. Returning to much-loved pop music is easy for us, we love it and so do the audiences. We’re inspired to play this kind of music as tribute to the Cambodian musicians who perished in the Killing Fields but left behind such a great legacy of free-spirited songs.
 
What’s the skinny on Srey Thy’s documentary, Rock Cambodia!?

It’s about her life and the Cambodian Space Project. Marc Eberle (director for The Most Secret Place On Earth: The CIA’s Secret War in Laos) is making it. Marc’s been following the band since day dot and we’ve seen some of the wonderful footage he shot. Recently, he sold the project to a TV network, so I guess it’s getting closer to being finished. All I can say is that the bits we’ve seen showed the stark reality of daily life and the idea of chasing the dream that you are eventually becoming a part of.
 
How do you feel about the comparison with Dengue Fever?
 
Most people don’t know anything about Cambodian bands other than Dengue Fever – a widely marketed concept band from LA. We’re all singing off the same song sheet but it’s different.
 
The difference is that CSP is a much more typical Cambodian band playing the music our Khmer members have grown up with. Bong Sak and Srey Thy never heard of Dengue Fever until expats started asking if they knew them. The original music we write is based on Srey Thy and the band’s experience of being in Cambodia but traveling the world. The way Srey Thy writes is to the point and personal; sometimes very sad, other times very funny. I’m not sure if Dengue Fever is the same as this. I’ve seen their songs and videos and they seem to be quirky American pop with Khmer vocals that are in the vein of the B52’s. I like Dengue Fever but from my experience, my band is quite different.

Someone once said Dengue Fever is like the Cambodian Beatles while CSP’s more like the Rolling Stones. 
 
Are you guys working on the next album?
 
Yes, we’ll go to Australia and produce some new mixes of music we’ve recorded in Phnom Penh and this will come out on a limited edition 12” vinyl. We’re also planning to work with producer, Mick Harvey (Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey). Look forward to our second album in March 2012.

The Cambodian Space Project and other bands like Tenderfist, The Great Spy Experiment and more will play at the Up To The Sky Festival.

Visit http://uptotheskyfestival.com/ for more tickets and more information.